Makum: In a significant crackdown on regional oil smuggling networks, police intercepted a commercial truck transporting a massive consignment of illicitly siphoned crude oil near the Bajalani tea garden in Assam's Tinsukia district.
Acting on a tip-off, an enforcement team from the Lankanchi police outpost intercepted an Ashok Leyland truck (bearing registration number AS-01-SC-3634) on the route between Makum Rajgarh Ali and the Bajalani tea estate. Upon inspecting the vehicle, officers discovered dozens of large drums containing hundreds of litres of stolen crude oil covertly stockpiled in the cargo hold.
Sophisticated Bunkering Method Exposed
A preliminary investigation revealed a highly organized and dangerous illegal siphoning operation. Smugglers had covertly tapped into a main commercial crude oil pipeline running through the area.
The Modus Operandi
The Breach: An industrial crude oil pipeline was illegally breached.
The Pipeline Extent: Thieves attached a clandestine, half-kilometre-long auxiliary pipe to siphon the fuel.
The Transit: The stolen oil was funnelled directly through the tea estates under the cover of darkness.
Police investigators suspect that the local tea gardens were being used as strategic transit corridors at night to safely extract and load the fuel onto waiting trucks.
The vehicle and the entire cache of crude oil have been impounded. Authorities have registered a criminal case under the Petroleum Pipelines Act and relevant sections of the law, and a manhunt has been launched to track down the masterminds behind the syndicate.